The Parables of Jesus have stood the test of time in their mysterious analogies of the relationship between God and man. Understanding and applying them is always a challenge. But Jesus gives us a key to understanding the most important of them by interpreting them for us in Matthew 13.

Pastor Greg seeks to clarify and apply the first of these seven Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven - the Parable of the Seed, the Sower, and the Soil. The importance of this is eternal - who gets to heaven and who does not? And how are we to respond to it?

Christians are living in a day when opposition and misinformation causing it has grown to a crisis stage. We are, unlike the disciples in the first century, challenged with the need to speak to a world that does not believe in the authority or authenticity of the Bible. While the Bible is OUR standard, the world rejects it. And younger generations are the ones most likely to do so.

Pastor Greg begins a two-month series based on David Platt's teaching during the 2017 Secret Church lessons. This first message is intended to present the scope of the problem those we try to reach with the gospel have with the Bible in which our gospel is communicated. What comes over the next several weeks will be how to address the concerns the skeptic might have toward the Bible in order to reasonably give confidence.

With all the commercialism surrounding the holidays, Christmas has been reduced to the images of snowflakes, twinkling lights, snowmen, elves, and Santa Clause. Gifts generate a materialistic greed in the hearts of Americans. And when someone wants to remind us of the real meaning of the holiday - the birth of Christ - there is a growing backlash from our increasingly secular society.

But that babe in a manger is not some mere "religious" belief - He really came from Heaven and was born in Bethlehem. And that is significant - that it was "Bethlehem" where He was born.

Pastor Greg shares some of the reasons Bethlehem is an important part of Christmas. You will appreciate what God did by sending His Son through Bethlehem!

We live in a world where righteousness is missing. Morality is, practically speaking, a political expediency. Winners are more moral than the losers. None are righteous. Righteousness is a quality that ONLY God has. But the birth of Christ was when God sent His righteous Son to us in order to take away our unrighteousness and to give us His righteousness. Yes, Christmas is the HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Pastor Greg shares two unassailable, unchangeable truths about this righteousness that has come through Jesus Christ which make all the difference to those who have ears to hear.

There seems to be a growing trend through mainline denominations to ignore the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ. This practice renders the whole purpose of Christ as invalid, useless, or otherwise futile - and our salvation is but a pipe-dream.

Pastor Greg offers five reasons why the Virgin Birth of Christ is ESSENTIAL to true Christianity. And he gives VERY good reason to believe.

If the word "Gospel" means "Good News" (and it does, BTW), then Christmas is really the Gospel!

Pastor Greg explains primarily from Luke 2:14 how "Peace on Earth, good will toward man" is Good News for everyone.

If God counted all our iniquities against us, who could stand? No one. But Jesus had no sin to be counted against Him - so God laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Psalm 130 offers us four sources of hope in the day of judgment - all thanks to Jesus. 1. Forgiveness 2. His Word 3. Mercy 4. Redemption

Pastor Greg shares how each is so important to our lives today - or we wouldn't be able to stand. And He challenges us to Thank God for each of these things on Thanksgiving Day!

ALL life is sacred to God. He created each of us uniquely, crafting us for His specific purposes, and redeeming us at a tremendous cost to Himself - the life of His ONLY Son, Jesus Christ.

Pastor Greg shows that God sees us better than we see ourselves. God also sees Himself better than we see Him. In our fallen state, we don't value life the way He does. So either He's right or we are - it can't be both. Likewise, the gospel is only true because of WHO God is. If we see that clearly, we find that our lives matter and that God went to the ends of Heaven to save us.

If you had a ticket to heaven, what bus would get you there? Jesus Christ of the Bible, of course. But do you know the four terms and conditions of getting onto the "Jesus" bus to heaven?

Pastor Greg, using an outline suggested by the "Four Faithful Sayings" in C.H. Spurgeon's Morning by Morning, reveals the four "Terms and Conditions" of using a ticket on the "Jesus Bus." And they each mean something important in our lives must change.